The Syracuse softball team’s trip to California resulted in four losses and just one win, and dropped the squad to 10-8 overall. Syracuse lost to Cal State Fullerton, UCLA, Florida International and Long Beach State. The Orange’s lone victory came over Longwood. The squad’s four-game set planned for last weekend in South Carolina was canceled due to inclement weather.

Syracuse dropped its opening contest in the Golden State to Cal State Fullerton, 4-2. Syracuse rallied from a 2-1 deficit to tie the game in the top of the sixth inning on Nicole Miller’s RBI single. In the bottom of the sixth, though, Cal State Fullerton scored twice off Brittany Gardner and held on for the win.

But the Orange rebounded to defeat Longwood on March 7, 4-0. Senior Jamie Kelling led the charge by going 2-for-3 with a triple and two RBIs. She also scored two runs. Sophomore Angie Sagnelli improved to 4-0 with the win.

SU’s luck did not last as UCLA routed the Orange, 11-0, later that day. Syracuse finished the trip on a 3-game skid by losing to Florida International, 5-2, and Long Beach State, 4-1, on March 8.

Syracuse returns to the softball diamond Saturday with a doubleheader in its Big East opener at Seton Hall.

Tennis

The Syracuse tennis team spent its spring break in Florida suffering through head coach Luke Jensen’s famed ‘Camp Hell’ and promptly lost two matches by a combined score of 13-1.

First, the Orange (8-5, 2-2 Big East) took on Florida International March 12 in Miami and was swept, 7-0. The doubles squad of Emily Harman and Christina Tan picked up Syracuse’s lone victory of the day, but the team lost every other match. Tan came closest to winning a singles match, going to a third-set tiebreaker against Maria Spenceley.

Three days later, Syracuse traveled west to Tampa, Fla., to take on South Florida. The Orange fell, 6-1. Harman and Tan again won their doubles match, but SU could not win the overall doubles point. Chelsea Jones beat Ashley Schmaker, 3-6, 6-4, 10-8, to give Syracuse its lone point.

The Orange returns home to take on Connecticut Friday.

Track and field

Syracuse sprinters Ramon Sosa and Jarret Eaton ran into tough times at the 2009 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championship over the weekend. The meet, held at Texas A&M University, saw neither Eaton nor Sosa place in their event, the 60-meter hurdles. Eaton ran a time of 7.92 seconds and Sosa didn’t finish the race. The Orange now has a week break to prep for the beginning of the outdoor season, in which SU will divide its team to compete in the Florida State Relays, the Stanford Invitational and the Army Dick Shea Invitational in West Point, N.Y. from March 26-28.

–Compiled by Jared Diamond, Matt Ehalt and Conor Orr, The Daily Orange

Published on March 16, 2009 at 12:00 pm